My hotel was great! Guests had rights to the Hilton Spa down the street so I could go to their pool, gym and yoga classes. Yahoo! The hotel had a perfect view of Bell Rock, one of the most popular formations.
My first adventure was a long walk.My hotel was in the Village of Oak Creek which was outside downtown Sedona and beautiful in it's own right. The neighborhood had so many beautiful homes and I walked until I got lost. Finally I saw someone outside their house and I asked which direction to go to get to my hotel. On my way back I saw a yard sale and went over just for fun... I met Carl who was around 75. I asked him why he selling everything. He told me the tale of his beautiful wife/poet who had died a couple years before and that he had recently been in contact with an old highschool friend. They ended up getting together,falling in love and he was moving to New Jersey to be with her. As I approached him sitting on his porch, he was writing a poem to his new love which he ended up reading to me, wonderful! Meeting Carl reminded me of how much love and experience we can squeeze into life if we are open.
The next day I went on a jeep tour. I met Karen, the guide. She had just moved from Taos where I had just left so it was fun to talk to her. She said Taos is an art community with a spiritual undertone and Sedona is a spiritual community with an art undertone.
It was a great way to compare the two. Needless to say we went four wheeling which was fun and a little scary. We got pretty close to the edge a couple of times. We learned about the history and the natives and she took us through an area that was not open to the public so it was really great. We even saw a rattlesnake (far enough away so I wasn't scared).
Sedona has vortexes-pockets of energy that permeate the area. This energy is said to be felt all over Sedona. I read that going to one of the vortex sites, where the energy is strongest, can be a very powerful experience. The energy is said to create a feeling of well being and can last for days. This is also one of the reasons that Sedona is known as a spiritual power center; lots of energy coming from those vortexes. I did have an invigorated, breathless feeling before I knew about them so understanding what they were explained alot.I wonder if that is why I was so upset about leaving.
Bell Rock was the first formation I hiked and I could certainly feel the power of the vortex there. When I started to climb, I saw a woman sitting with coffee. I stopped and there I met Ivonna. She was from Poland and had just had a fight with the friend she was traveling with (which made me glad to be alone). I asked her if she wanted to hike with me and we spent the next couple of hours together. We took pictures of each other.
We solved the problems of the world and parted ways. Again, the meeting reminded me that meeting people is the best part of my trip. I took lots of drives through Sedona just to look at the rock. It truly was amazing.
Someone had told me to go to Slide Rock Park. It is a natural water slide nestled in the Oak Creek area. It was great! There were lots of people there and it was beautiful. It was about a 10 minute walk deeper into the forest before getting to Slide Rock, then down stairs into the creek. The Rocks were slippery from the constant water rushing over them, creating a perfect slide. So you walk a bit until you get to the beginning, get into the water and the current pushes you down the slide. I hesitated because the kids who were in there had blue lips and were shivering acting like they were having a great time. "Is it cold?" I asked, knowing the answer and they all said,"Freezing" but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't do it sooo. WOW... it was cold BUT it was exhilarating! Another moment that took my breath away.
I had been asked by Crowfeather, in Taos, to bring an offering to Sedona. It was a spiritual offering of prayer for two of his kids. He gave me the offering (2 feathers and a rock) and asked me to bring it to a "sacred" space that included a tree, place the offering, sit and pray for them. Each day I carried the offerings with me so I'd be prepared when I felt the time/place was right. One evening I hiked Cathedral Rock (one of the most photographed formations). I got about halfway up and I saw a beautifully twisted Juniper that looked like it was glowing. The sun hitting it just right. "This is the place", I thought. I placed Crowfeather's offering at the tree;sat, prayed and moved on. I continued toward the top where I saw the perfect tree for my own offering. The leader of the Sweatlodge had taught me how to create a prayer offering with pieces of material and string asking "Spirit" what is next for me. So days before I went to Walmart so I could put together my prayer flags. I only needed a small amount of material so they gave it to me for free and I told Sally, the clerk, I'd say a prayer for her, which I did when I got to my spot. I found my space, tied my offering to a tree and sat and prayed. As I did, I looked to my left looked and saw this cactus.
It was growing love. See the hearts?
Cathedral Rock was beautiful. I realized when I started to climb down that I needed to stop,lie down with God and just watch the clouds.So I did.
The next day, before leaving, I went back to Cahthdral rock because the other side had a creek I wanted to see. I hung out there for a bit. I didn't want to leave.
I loved Sedona and will certainly go back. It was amazing! Las Vegas is next; a totally different kind of energy!!!
More to come...
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